The next day, Li Yuntian bid farewell to Xue Lu and other officials who were seen off by Huai'an City, and continued to sail south.

Compared with the previous two days, there was one more person on the ship -- Lei Ting, because Li Yuntian's thorough investigation of the Lianghuai Salt Road was in danger this time, so Lei Ting was in charge of his safety and diet as when he was in Jiaozhi.

Since the first year of Hongxi, Zhao Xinyue and Lei Ting have not seen each other for six years, and Zhao Xinyue was very happy after seeing Lei Ting again, calling her sister sweetly, and listening to Lei Ting with great interest to tell interesting stories about quelling rebellion in Jiaozhi, which made the ship more lively.

Two days later, Li Yuntian and his entourage arrived at the Yangzhou wharf, where Zhang Sheng, the transfer envoy of the two Huai Salt Road, Lu Xing, the governor of Yangzhou Prefecture, and Han Hu, the commander of Yangzhou Wei, led the officials of Yangzhou City to gather at the wharf to welcome his arrival.

After learning that the famous Zhenwu Marquis was coming, Yangzhou City was empty, and the people poured into the streets to see the excitement, all wanting to meet the new Marquis of the Ming Dynasty.

Zhang Sheng and Lu Xing were both officials who had taken up their posts in the Lianghuai Yandao Yamen and Yangzhou Prefecture two years ago, and it was the first time Li Yuntian had met them, but they talked and laughed with each other and the atmosphere was very harmonious.

Yangzhou Wei commander Han Hu is Li Yuntian's old acquaintance, Li Yuntian's father-in-law Zhongguo Gong Zhou Zheng's faction, when Zhou Yuting was in trouble in Yangzhou City, he personally led troops to help.

To everyone's surprise, Li Yuntian did not get into a luxurious carriage that Zhang Sheng had prepared, but asked people to unload the four-wheeled carriage he was riding in the capital from the boat, and rode into the city in the four-wheeled carriage under the surprised gaze of the people.

Due to the prosperity and wealth of Jiangnan, most of the ground in the town is paved with bluestone slabs, which is especially suitable for the driving of four-wheeled carriages, which is smooth and comfortable.

Because Li Yuntian came to Yangzhou this time as an envoy to patrol the salt imperial history, he invited Zhang Sheng to ride in a four-wheeled carriage with him.

On the way into the city, Li Yuntian did not talk to Zhang Sheng about the Lianghuai Salt Road, but talked to him with great interest about the wind and snow in Yangzhou, which made Zhang Sheng feel a lot more at ease.

As soon as the four-wheeled carriage appeared, it successfully attracted the attention of the people of Yangzhou, and everyone's attention was soon focused on the four-wheeled carriage, which was the first time for everyone to see such a high-style carriage, and in an instant the two-wheeled carriage followed by it was compared, which overshadowed the luxurious two-wheeled carriage.

It wasn't until the next day that Yangzhou's "Mingxin Bao" published an article introducing the four-wheeled carriage, and people were surprised to learn that this novel style of carriage was not for anyone to ride, and only those royal nobles and civil and military officials could obtain the necessary license plates for the carriage on the road, and those who did not have a license on the road would be severely punished.

And not only that, even those four-wheeled carriages that have obtained license plates, their specifications and standards are strictly implemented in accordance with the relevant standards, and the royal family and civil and military officials have corresponding regulations to show their rank, which can be described as a symbol of status and status.

Wealthy merchants could not buy four-wheeled carriages, but Emperor Xuande issued a decree that each merchant only needed to donate 10,000 taels of silver to help the people, then they could receive the favor of the imperial court, and then they could buy a four-wheeled carriage.

The most important thing that the wealthy businessmen from all walks of life who live in Yangzhou City is money, and the four-wheeled carriage is obviously an excellent means of transportation to enhance their status and status, so as soon as the report on the four-wheeled carriage in the "Ming Xin Bao" was published, the secretary office of the Jiangwutang in Yangzhou City was full of businessmen and servants who came to donate money, all wanting to grab a front license plate number.

Because Emperor Xuande's edict only stipulated that a donation of 10,000 taels of silver for disaster relief could buy a four-wheeled carriage, and there was no restriction on buying only one, so many wealthy businessmen donated 350,000 silver at a time to equip their families with four-wheeled carriages, so that they could also grab the license plate numbers in front of them.

Therefore, in just a few days, the Yangzhou Division of Jiangwutang received donations of millions of taels from merchants, half of the silver was given to the inner treasury of Emperor Xuande and half to the treasury of the household department according to the agreement.

In addition, Li Yuntian also made a lot of money by selling four-wheeled carriages, which was a great joy for him, Emperor Xuande, and Hubu.

After the household department received millions of taels of silver in vain, many officials secretly sighed in their hearts while being happy, if Li Yuntian could be transferred to the household department, then how could the treasury of the household department be so tight every year?

The emotion of these household officials is not groundless, if it is said that which official in the Ming Dynasty is the most profitable, so that those businessmen can obediently take out the silver, then it must be Li Yuntian, first in Yangzhou City to successfully raise a bid to raise the military salary of the Jiaozhi counterinsurgency army, and now with a four-wheeled carriage to make those Yangzhou rich businessmen rush to it, willing to throw money into it, the Ming officialdom is unsurpassed.

At the same time, officials in the household department and even in the officialdom admired Li Yuntian's character.

It stands to reason that the household department is the enemy of Li Yuntian, who was born in the internal affairs camp, in the officialdom, but Li Yuntian did not give all the silver donated by those merchants to the inner treasury of Emperor Xuande, but divided half of it to the treasury of the household department, which effectively alleviated the financial pressure faced by the household department and ensured that many projects of the Ming Dynasty could be implemented smoothly.

On the night of his arrival in Yangzhou City, Zhang Sheng gave Li Yuntian a clean sweep in the best restaurant in Yangzhou City, and all the civil and military officials and gentry in Yangzhou City participated.

It is worth mentioning that originally this kind of official scene was not allowed to participate, and only those gentry with merit and fame could have the honor to attend.

However, due to the wealth of the wealthy merchants in Yangzhou, some merchants who donated huge sums of money to the imperial court were rewarded by Emperor Yongle, that is, they were awarded an idle official position in name only, and they could enjoy the courtesy of officials at the corresponding level but were not treated, so those merchants were also able to participate in the reception banquet.

Originally, the salt merchants in Yangzhou were the merchants who received the most fame from this kind of favor, but because Li Yuntian came to Yangzhou this time to check the Lianghuai Salt Road, those salt merchants avoided it with interest.

As a result, the businessmen who were able to participate in the reception banquet were mainly those who had successfully bid for the commercial management rights and mining rights of Jiaozhi four years earlier.

Since Li Yuntian returned to Beijing, he deliberately asked for merit for those businessmen who invested in the Jiaozhi business, so Emperor Xuande waved his pen and rewarded those merchants with merit of different grades, which was the best reward for them, hoping that they could continue to serve the Ming Dynasty, which also aroused the envy and jealousy of the businessmen in the Jiangnan business community.

Four years ago, Li Yuntian's bidding in Yangzhou can be described as a big fanfare, but because the Ming army was defeated and retreated on the battlefield of Jiaozhi at that time, and even the dignified Marquis of An Yuan was killed, no one would think that Li Yuntian could quell the rebellion in Jiaozhi, and the money thrown out was undoubtedly wasted.

Therefore, at that time, many wealthy businessmen took a cautious attitude towards the bidding and were in a wait-and-see attitude, and the Salt Merchants Association, the largest chamber of commerce in Jiangnan, had no one except for Lu Dezhong, the vice president.

Who would have thought that Li Yuntian would later unexpectedly put down the rebellion in Jiaozhi, and now those businessmen who invested in Jiaozhi's business not only monopolized the business of Jiaozhi, but also made a lot of profits from Jiaozhi's overseas trade, which is really eye-catching.

What is particularly important is that Li Yuntian even asked Emperor Xuande for the merit of those businessmen who invested in the Jiaozhi business, so that those people became famous one by one, which can be described as fame and fortune, and did not make those businessmen in Jiangnan feel remorseful.

Speaking of which, there is nothing more regretful now than the vice presidents and deacons of the General Salt Merchants Association, because of the threat of Chen Ergongzi and the fact that they were not optimistic about the prospects of investing in Jiaozhi, so except for Lu Dezhong, the vice president of the Salt Merchants Association, the salt merchants of the General Salt Merchants Association did not participate in the bidding.

Now the two Huai Salt Road suddenly broke out of the earth-shattering case, although the current shape is good, but those big salt merchants are still uneasy in their hearts, Emperor Xuande is angry under the two Huai Salt Road must find someone to be a substitute for the dead, and there must be at least one big salt merchant among them, otherwise how can they give a deal to Emperor Xuande?